Pandorian Crusaders
by Sir NickolasJhonstonMarcus III
Summary: When two highschool students from earth are eager to unravel the mysteries of the Na'vi and construct a portal to get there, what will happen when they wind up only a stone's throw away from the new Hometree? OC and my first story. open to suggestions.
1. Chapter One: Preperations

**My first Avatar Fanfic, and, well, my first Fanfic ever. Enjoy! It gets better in later chapters, I promise.**

**Oh, and by the way, Avater belongs to James Cameroon, not me. Cheerio then. :)**

"And that should do it." Ahrim said, brushing the blue and gold paint off of his hands and onto his pants.

"Ohhhkayyy," I said enthusiastically. "This is it right?" I asked, pointing to the strange, but oddly fluent glyphs on the wall.

He admired his handy work. "You betcha'. This is a full gateway to Pandora." He sighed admiringly. "I wonder what it'll be like."

I let him ponder silently as I looked on. What could this strange port-way send me to? Pandora seemed to be what my classmates dreams were made of. With a planet rich in minerals, filled with exotic plant life, and to top it off, intelligent life. The Na'vi.

Classes at school made them sound like brutal, violent, vicious beings. A small course on their anatomy revealed that, well, they weren't all too different from us. Albeit, their skeleton seemed much more feline-like, carbon-fiber bones with muscles to match, and a braid or a queue (extension of the nervous system) at the back of their head. There were other differences too like blue skin and the thing about being ten feet tall.

Well anyway, days passed, and I met Ahrim. Slight, with glasses and kind of dorky, Ahrim was not the most popular, but he shared my passion for learning about the humanoid species. We became what I'd like to call 'friendly allies' but we were buddies all the same. Then Ahrim explained a way to get to Pandora under the radar.

Witchcraft had long since been destroyed and removed from society, and at first, that's what I thought he was talking about. But he then explained that it was unexplored science, like alchemy. And he proved it to me too, when he turned a knife into solid gold. I haven't doubted him since.

Somewhere along the line, he tried to explain how to create a portal that acted like a door. I couldn't understand any of it. Something about strands of light weaving a bridge though space. It didn't matter to him though. I'd go through first, look around, then come back and bring him. We had suitable weaponry. Well, it was more like a shotgun and a samurai sword. But we figured it would be enough. After all, if we found something big and bad, we could just zip back here, make a small adjustment to the glyphs, and end up on the other side of the planet.

"Jarred, you set?" Ahrim asked, busying around the room.

I shrugged, lifting the sword and slinging it over my shoulder, and lifted the shotgun. It was heavy in my hands. "I'm set. How long should I stay there?"

He was still dashing to and fro making sure everything was set and ready. "As long as you think is necessary, and when you get back, tell me everything you saw or felt." He snatched a spiked collar and threw it to me, I caught it narrowly, holding the heavy gun in my other hand. "Put that on." He said.

"What's it for?" I asked setting the gun down to fasten the collar around my neck. On the inside of the collar were some more of the markings.

"It's an alchemy formula. It takes the ammonia, cyanide and methane from the atmosphere and converts it to nitrogen and oxygen. Be aware though, the air might taste weird, and your throat might tickle a little. It's just the alchimec process." He said and settled down.

"Nice," I said fingering the spikes on the collar, "I got everything I need." My green military style jacket, with it's numerous pockets were a great testament to that. The pockets were filled with everything from small hydration capsules to shotgun shells. I bent my knees and scooped up the gun.

"Alright," He said. "Activate the portal."

I brushed one of my brown locks out of my eyes, which widened at what he asked me to do. "Um, ok…" I walked up to the wall, and raised my hands above the glyphs. The cold grey of the concrete wall didn't change. "Uh…" I said, about to ask for help.

"Trust your instincts." He said, his stare intent through his glasses.

I brushed my hand over the markings again, and I felt something there, right in the middle of it all. I pushed my hand there. A sudden shock raised goose bumps on my arm. It was there. Pandora. I could feel it. Dragging my hand down the wall, I saw an intense purple-white, band of energy seep from my fingers and onto the wall, all the way till my hand touched the floor.

"Well done." Ahrim said, with a crooked smile, which vanished for a moment. "Oh, wait. Take this." He handed me a camera. "Take some pictures."

I rolled my eyes and shoved the camera into a pocket that wasn't already full, and turned back to the portal. I gingerly stuck my hand into the band of energy, mildly surprised that I didn't feel the cold, stone hardness of concrete, but something…warm, and humid, just on the tips of my fingers. I stuck my other hand in and pulled the band apart.

Like a curtain, the band parted and what I saw stunned me. Green, purple, brown. Leaves, trees, shrubs, life. My breath caught at the sight of a few small animals swinging through the trees. It was beautiful. So much of what I hadn't seen, but could now. I held the portal open and stepped fully through.

**I hope you enjoy it so far, I have big ideas for this but I would love your input. Reviews are welcomed with a warm heart.**


	2. A Hellhole Like no Other

**A/N: Please note that this chapter is a work in progress. Which means that you all who read this are free to offer suggestions/reviews. Blood and violence in this chapter, so beware. Jake and Neyteri and all the other characters we know and love will be appearing either in this chapter or the next. Any way, please enjoy!**

**A/N: Well, just got my first flame. Woot for me right? Anyway, I'll keep writing for those of you who enjoy it. (I'm one of them.) And for all of you who don't, well, I know I'm new to this stuff so I can only get better, but if you honestly don't like it, please dont rant about it. I try my best.**

**Chapter Two: A Hellhole Like no Other.**

People say school is a Hellhole and that's acceptable. Usually a Hellhole is a bad place, but not always. Fifteen seconds in Pandora and I found out pretty quick. The beauty of the vegetation was stunning, so many colors that I had never seen before. Turns out that the animals were like that too. I thought Viperwolves were just a myth, ya know? A legend to scare off recruits that didn't have the mental aptitude. The shotgun, heavy in my hands, reminded me of what I had available for any hostile animals. I pushed through the brush, looking around. I felt light here, the shotgun was still heavy, but I felt like I could actually catch it if I threw it up. Ahrim had been right, the air did taste odd, but it was natural. The air smelled of rich ground, humidity and something thick and musky that I couldn't recognize.

The canopy was alive with small animals. Hoof prints littered the ground in all directions. High pitched shrieks and growls pierced the forest air. My stomach turned nervously when I thought, _I'm here. Really here, on Pandora. _Then I laughed. The weeks of preparations all boiling down to now. Ahrim didn't know what he was missing! The portal was still active behind me, so I opened it and popped my head through, back to Earth. Ahrim was still there staring eyes wide at me. "Dude." I said. "Come on. You gotta see this." He scrambled fashioning his own breathing necklace on and launched himself through the portal, not even bothering to answer me.

The lower gravity took it's immediate effect on him. He stumbled for a moment before righting himself. "Oof, that's a kick in the teeth." He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, before opening them. He saw all that I had seen. He laughed. "Heh, wow. Science class wasn't kidding, was it." He said with irony. "It really is green." He said in awe and took a breath. "We made it." He laughed and so did I as the words struck me. "We really made it. Pandora. All of it, ours to study." He looked to me. "Have you seen one yet? A Na'vi?" His eyes were eager.

"No," I replied, "not yet. But they're here, and they're close." I looked out past the canopy. "I can feel them."

"Lets go then." He said. "And hand me the gun. I don't know how to use that sword."

I wanted to groan and protest, but decided against it. I tossed him the gun, and he caught it reflexively, weighing it in his hands. "Huh," he said, "It weighs a lot less than I remember."

Smirking at that, I replied, "Reduced gravity. What a blessing, right?" I reached to my back as I spoke, grasping the sword handle, and with a firm tug, pulled it from it's sheath. I gave it a good slice though the air in front of me. It whistled beautifully. "Ah, ya know what? I'm really starting to like this place." I said. "Wouldn't mind living here at all."

There was a low growl. Two sharp metallic clicks sounded as Ahrim cocked the gun. "Friendlies." He muttered under his breath.

A hyena-like laugh followed his statement. Another growl sounded. "Viperwolves?" He said in slight disbelief.

"They're only a myth, right?" I asked.

He didn't answer. "Right?" I asked again.

There was a huff of breath and I saw it. Black skin, six limbs, and damn ugly. It barred it's teeth at me. It was about the size of my dog back home, a Labrador.

"Wrong." He said simply.

A second one bounded into view, and a third. More of the growls and barks. My unease was evident, now that we were outnumbered. "Uh, any bright ideas?"

"Nope, none here." His eyes danced between the strange dogs. Three more launched themselves through the brush.

A sudden explosion filled my ears, coupled with a bright flash. More metallic clicks, and a second explosion. Ahrim had squeezed off two rounds, putting two of the dogs out for good. "Run!" He shouted, cocked, aimed, and fired.

The metal buckshot caught two of the demented hounds at once. I took off, my heart hammering in my chest. Ahrim wasn't far behind, trailing behind me, pulling rounds off where ever he could afford to. Three shots later, the unthinkable happened.

He ran out, staring the last viperwolf down with the muzzle of the gun. "Damn it." I cursed running back, just as the black monster tensed and sprang.

An arc of silver, and a strangled whine that chocked off with a gurgle. My sword was painted red, the front of my jacket as well.

"Whoa." Ahrim said, chest heaving, feet frozen, his hands shaking slightly, the gun mimicking his hands. "That…was intense." He said.

"Damn." I said, my arms feeling weak. "Did I actually get one of 'em?"

His hands shook harder as he aimed his gun to the ground. "See for yourself."

I looked down and almost gagged at what I saw. Turning my head, I replied, "Yeah," I said, my throat tight. "I got him."

The viperwolf that had nearly knocked Ahrim over was now lying in a pool of it's own blood, it's body severed completely diagonally. I needed to get my mind off of that quick, or what ever I had eaten recently would become a public attraction.

I shoved my hand into one of the many pockets of my vest and came out with a fist full of shotgun shells. "Load her up."

He nodded, taking the shells from me. "You look like a mess." He offered.

I grimmaced. My jacket and sword must have looked like somthing from a horror movie. Using the cloth of my shirt, I cleaned off most of the offensive red color from the blade before sliding it back into it's sheath, on my back. "Mark wasn't kidding." I rasped, half in realization.

"About what?" Ahrim inquired, pushing rounds into the loader on the underside of the the gun.

"This place, Pandora." I shook my head resting against one of the many trees in the small space, trying to stay away from the viperwolf carcase. "He had an odd way of describing it. He said it was as deadly as it was beautiful." I looked around. "If he's right..." I shuddered at the thought. If everything here was out to kill us, why were we here?

"This place is beautiful." He said, looking around. "But it's a Hellhole." He wiped some sweat from his forehead.

"A Hellhole like no other." I said, and chuckled at a distant memory.

"What? What's so funny?" Ahrim asked.

"In the begining of the year, there was an introductional video. Colonel Quaritch himself opted for it, and," I laughed a little harder. "Don't get me wrong, he did a great job. But some of the analogies he used..."

"Oh, yeah." He chuckled. "I just couldn't take him seriously with those scars."

"I wonder if he's still here." I wondered wryly. "The shuttle launches have been going like non-stop."

"Yeah, you'd think they got enough people there already." He said, shaking his head. "I heard about a colonization order a few days ago. Now it's like they're taking anyone who can shoot a gun."

This was news to me. "Colonization order? But that means..."

"Planet-wide takeover." He finished for me. "Just like the moon and Mars." His vioce sounded far off.

"But I thought they were here for the...that mineral, unobtamium?" I said confused. "Thats what the Resource Developement Association is aiming for anyway."

"The RDA? Yeah, they're here for that. It builds the ships that come here." He shifted. "The Earth is over populated. Less people want to go to Mars after the atmosphere shorted out for a little while, and the moon's full. But here..." He gestured around. "Look, there's already an atmostphere, semi-breathable air. Gravity." He looked distraught. "They'll come here and destroy it all."

"We still got five years." I said, trying to lighten the mood. "Untill they arrive." I grinned evily. "Say, when we finally find the Na'vi, whad'ya say to throwing a wrench in the works?"

"How so?" He asked intrigued, shifting his weight to his other foot.

"We give them a heads up. They got five years to prepare, and we can supply them with just about anything we can squeeze through the portal." I offered.

"Well it sounds good, other than the fact that I'm broke." He looked around, frowning slightly. "We should keep moving, I don't like the thought that there might be more of them," He jerked the gun in the direction of the mutilated viperwolf, "nearby."

"Agreed." I said, hoping that the chills on my arms wern't obvious.

The jungle seemed to get thicker as we pushed on, the vines and roots always getting in the way, threatining to trip us up. But as we moved forward, I could guess Ahrim's destination. A large tree loomed in the distance standing like a skyscraper of nature. I whistled in admiration. "That's one heck of a tree."

"Yup, _Kelutral, _as it's called by the Na'vi. If you thinks it's big now, wait until you get inside." He said, the previous aura of hoplessness dissapating under his exitement.

"You did your homework?" I said stunned, climbing over some fallen flora.

"Some, but not all." He said, keeping his eyes on the tree as we walked. "I had to make a scale model of some native Pandorian flora, so I did some research and made one. You made a Na'vi skelleton."

He was right, and I treasured that model, made with real carbon fiber for the bones. I got an A- for it. "Wow, that was..." I counted the months in my head. "Over four months ago."

He smiled, ducking under a heavily bent tree. "Time passes quickly when you got somthing to work on." He appraised the area. "I mean, look at _this_. All of this. Weeks of studying, going through report videos, finding differences between legend and fact, and look at where we are now! Pandora. This incredible planet. We didn't have to skip out on five years either." He chuckled. "I bet if we show up at an RDA base they'll flip."

"About the age thing, or the fact that we can actualy _breathe_ here?" I inquired, steping over an oddly shaped weed-like plant.

"Probably both of those and more." He lauged, vaulting over a low branch, and landing with a huff of breath. "We'd probably be labeled as stowaways, and be locked up under surveilance until they get a belivable answer, which they won't." He chuckled.

"Yeah." I agreed. "So let's stay away from them, for the time being at least." I said contented.

Suddenly Ahrim stopped, throwing his arm in my way to stop me too. "Wha..."

"Shhh." He said, shutting me up and listened. "You here that?" He whispered.

I listened intently, closing my eyes. Other than the shrill calls of the jungle animals, there was somthing nearly out of my hearing range, a high pitched noise. "Laughter?" I said thinking out loud. "From children?" My eyes snapping open.

"Children, yes. But," a hopefull smile crossed his features. "I don't believe they are human children."

"Na'vi." I breathed, my heart thudding in exitement.

"They're close. I don't know how close, though." He pulled off his pack and removed an object that looked like a blocky, silver metal flower. "Once we can see them, I'll place this tracking sigil. It works like a missile homing system, letting the portal lock on the position." He zipped up his pack again, now carrying the odd looking sigil. "Let's hurry, I don't know how much daylight we have left." I could see through his serious demeanor, though. He was just as exited as I was.

"I could always stay for the night?" I offered, more in question than a suggestion. He turened to face me, slightly shocked.

"Here?" His voice was dissaproving, and skeptical.

"Sure. Hell, why not?" I responded.

He cursed, laughing. "I had a feeling you'd want to stay. Looks like I was right." He combed his fingers through his jet-black hair. "But I'm not sure, considering all the things that might go bump in the night. Some of them might not be friendly."

"You sound like my mom." I groaned, and we started moving again, progressing toward the great tree with the source of laughter. "She always gives me Hell when I want to go out at night."

"Hey, I'm not saying no. I'll probably just give you a small transfigureation to last the night. Thats all." He argued on his behalf, and snagged his foot in a root.

"Transfigurwhat?" I said, avoiding the root he almost tripped on moments before. "It sounds...fun." I said distastefully.

"Aw, don't be a babe. If you really want to spend the night, you're going to need a lot more than just skin and bone." He said, and his tone closed the subject.

We walked in silence for the next twenty minutes or so; I couldn't acurately measure time here because I didn't wear a watch. The jungle calls, jingling of our light equipment and our foot steps, paired with the alternating laughter were the only sounds. There had been more of the hyena laughing, and we kept well away from that. I contemplated his words. A transfigureation, like turning me into somthing else? Chills ran down my spine at the possibilities. If he could abridge a five light-year long journey with a simple portal, what could he turn me into? A rock? Maybe a sentient tree. Or maybe somthing freaky and God-ugly that was ment to be in a horror movie. Dear lord, I had no idea of what he could do, but seeing as he used a shotgun, he probably couldn't perform any offensive 'formula', or if he could, it wasn't easy to do. Hopefully he had some idea of what to do if we got ourselves in deep crap, because I didn't.

**A/N: Well, that's chapter two, good and done. I thought about adding more, but it didn't feel right. I'm sorry for all of you who are probably mentaly groaning at this kind of a cutoff, but rest assured, your patience will be rewarded. I would still enjoy your help though, I typicaly don't know what my readers want, but I'm offering you all the chance to shape the next chapter. Maybe things you would like to see happen (that are still within the plotline, of course) and I wouldn't hesatate to try and find a place for it. And for all those who have currently reviewed, Thank you, it brings me great joy to find that you enjoy it. Till we meet again, Farewell.**


	3. Tails of a Lone Wolf

**Well, chapter three took considerably more time than I thought it would, and even though Jake and Neyteri are in there, Jarred dosent know them yet. But dont worry, I got a great storyline in mind for this ;)**

* * *

The laughing of the children had broken off several minutes ago, but Ahrim and I figured that we were still headed in the right direction. After all, the really, really big tree is hard to miss. Every few minutes, Ahrim or I would inevitably snag our feet in a unseen root. I had taken a graceless spill into a thorned plant, and howled in pain as I desperately tried to excavate myself without causing too many cuts. Blood trickled down my arms from the many shallow lacerations I had received from partial success of getting out. They stung with furry, like a red-hot wire touched to my skin. Ahrim offered some ointment, but I declined. We needed to reach a suitable place to orient the tracking sigil, before either of us could get some rest.

My arms throbbed, and I hissed, sucking air through my clenched teeth. I tried to rub the blood off, avoiding the cuts themselves, but only succeeded in smearing it. "Aw, Hell." I said, whipping my arms around in an attempt to shake the blood off.

It only served to make my arms throb more. "Jarred, you ok?" Ahrim called from up ahead. His voice echoed slightly through the thick flora.

"Frick." I said quietly to myself inspecting my arms for a way to stop the endless bleeding. "Yeah, I'm fine." I yelled back, slightly irritated from Ahrim's concern, and the endless sting.

"Well, come on then!" He yelled, exasperated. "I'm getting tired of waiting around for you." His tone mirrored my own, only with more intensity. The sun was setting quickly, so there was cause for his anxiety, and temperament. I quickened my pace, slightly. My eyes kept finding their way to one of the probably ten small, scarlet dripping, crescent shaped fissures that stood, slightly raised on my arms.

Eventually I caught up to him. He exclaimed about the blood on my arms but I was able to ward him off, after which, he sighed and said something about me being a bloody moron. We would kick out at a few broken twigs when they appeared, just to pass the time, and the offensive material in our way thinned more and more as we progressed. Ducking under a branch every now and then, Ahrim would always keep us in the direction of the great monument to nature, and each time I looked up at it, it seemed to grow a little taller. I smiled in spite of my bleeding arms. It was there, and living inside it…well I could only guess. The blood dripping on the ground wouldn't help my cause though, and I definitely wasn't in the mood for more of those mutant dogs.

Minutes later, we found it. A small clearing that had been in use, not long ago. Foot prints littered the ground in random sequences. Each footprint had only four toes. Broken branches and a few twigs were lying around. On the ground, a large circle had been drawn, and divided into quarters. I wonder what kind of game they had been playing…

Ahrim sighed contentedly, looking around, and then up. "This is good enough for today right?" He rubbed his hands together, before plucking the sigil out of his pocket.

"Good enough?" I said incredulously. "No, this is _way_ better than good enough." I said and laughed.

He chuckled, "Good." He held the metal flower-ish object tightly.

"So how do we orient this uh… tracking sigil?" I asked, curiously.

He laughed, turning to one of the trees. "It's as simple as one," He poked the sharp end into the bark. "Two," He drew his hand back, and drove the sigil deep into the tree trunk. "And three." He tapped a rune that I couldn't see.

The effect was instantaneous. The silver flower blossomed, and silver threads extended from it, lacing around the tree, becoming rooted. My mouth lolled open at the sight. Now don't get me wrong, the portal thing was cool and all, but seeing something like that was just wicked awesome. Ahrim clapped his hands together, joyously. "Bingo, perfect placement and activation." He pumped a fist into the air, and laughed. "I'm glad it worked."

I promptly closed my mouth and copied his laugh. "So this is like some kind of mapping point?" I asked.

"Precisely." He answered, pleased that I had been able to remember his earlier remarks.

He brought his hand back, and snapped it forward into the bark of the tree. The acrid smell of ozone saturated the air as the purple-white gossamer threads of energy opened the portal back home. "We got to wash up, and you need to give your parents a heads up. Tell them whatever story works, because there's a lot we got to do tonight." His voice took an edge, almost anxious, but not quite.

I shrugged, and parted the threads of energy and walked back through, followed closely by Ahrim, who closed the portal when we were back. The gravities effect was felt immediately. Nearly four hours of hiking though Pandorian foliage, falling into thorn bushes, and being chased and attacked by viperwolves took it's toll. Both of us were coated in sweat, dirt, and for me, blood and gore. Ah well, all in a day's work, right? Not to mention that both of us were exhausted, and in severe need of a good old fashioned pizza. My arms felt like they were tied to dumbbells, along with the rest of my body. "Ahrim, call up Jamie's Pizza Shack, and order the two largest pizzas they got with all the meat they can spare." I said in a military order.

"Sir, yes sir." He replied tiredly, and made a beeline for the stairs which would lead to a phone.

Meanwhile, I emptied my pockets, all of them, and dumping the contents on the thick desk. buckshot shot gun shells mingled with the small hydration capsules, and to my slight dismay, the camera. I had forgotten to take pictures. Oh well, I shrugged. There would be plenty of chances for pictures, and now that we were so close to the tree, pictures of the native population were now a feasible choice. Ha, my mom and dad would freak if they saw a picture of me playing around with the Na'vi. My mom and dad… Oh, damn. I needed a story that they could believe. I ran my fingers through my knotted, tangled, twisted locks, that could hardly be called hair anymore. Tomorrow was a Saturday, so school was out the door. Ahrim had always stayed ahead in the world of videogames, so maybe… Ah! That's it! An all night videogame marathon. My parents would consent in a heartbeat.

I played with the spiked collar for a few minutes, twisting it around my neck as Ahrim's voice flitted down the stairwell. His order wouldn't take long, and it would take them less than fifteen minutes to deliver. The writhing contortions of my stomach briefly increased in intensity with the thought of some good old home-style pizza. The pain in my arms subsided slightly, but I still avoided resting them anywhere. I grimaced at the thought of a hot shower. While it would be cleansing, it would be like dipping my arms in hellfire. I heard the rubber of Ahrim's shoes slapping against the hard concrete stairs, along with the clack of wood. I turned around saw what had made the odd sound. Clutched in his left hand was a staff that looked like it was carved of ancient wood. Real wood, not the fake recycled paper pulp board you get from the hardware store. "Whoa." I said, in slight awe.

The staff was polished smooth, and incredibly dark brown. He shrugged, "It belonged to my great grandfather, before he passed on. It should work for what I'm about to do."

This confused me slightly, "Do what?"

He smiled and waved the staff. My body was instantly immobilized, my jaw flexed, but it wouldn't open. "Don't worry, it should help quite a bit. _Resarcio suus viscus quod licentia haud vix_." Pain, instant excruciating pain.

Shooting up through my arms and across my chest, the skin of my arms burned horribly, and I could feel my skin moving, crawling and sealing together.

"Mend his flesh and leave no scar." Ahrim said. "Very crude, I will admit, but it's the best fix I could think of." He added apologetically.

And as soon as the pain had come, it was gone. My arms still thrummed after the onslaught of such pain, but when I looked at my arms, I saw them. Pristine and clean, the furrows and fissures from the plant simply erased, the dried blood gone. As if it had never happened. I moved my arm experimentally. Nothing, no pain, discomfort, anything. "What in the heavens above did you do to me?" I asked, numb with surprise.

"Vocalized formula. It only works in Latin." He offered. "I hope it didn't hurt too much. I didn't have time to conjure up a more intricate, painless vocalization."

"Uh, yeah." I said carefully, not wanting to hurt his feelings. "It was fine, heh, good-as-new." I flexed my arm to add emphasis to my nervous statement.

"Yeah, I knew it had to have been bad." He sighed, dejectedly. "Well, it got the job done."

I nodded, not knowing how to respond, so instead, I changed the subject. "Hey, did ya bring your phone down?"

He replied by tossing me the small device. I pressed my thumb to the small scanner and the dial-tone started to ring immediately. My mother picked up on the first ring. "Hello?"

"Hey mom." I said casually, as if I _hadn't _been strolling through Pandora minutes ago.

"_Jarred, _thank God. I was getting worried." Her worry was always constant, because she suffered from paranoia.

"I'm fine mom, honestly." I looked at my mended arms. "Good as gold."

"Where are you?" She said without skipping a beat.

"I'm at Ahrim's." I replied. "He and I want to go on a videogame night, that ok with you?"

I could tell she wanted to whine about it, but in the end, she figured it could be worse. "Oh, alright. Just…be careful." She said, genuine worry crossing her voice.

I smile at the irony. Being in Pandora would warrant much more than just being 'careful'. I chuckled over the line. "Don't worry mom, I'll be fine." Hopefully…

"Alright…Have fun." She said wearily.

"Ok, mom. Sleep well, and tell dad not to stay up too late."

"Alright, love you." She said in farewell.

"Love you too." I replied.

The line closed and I tossed the phone back to Ahrim. "Ok, that's taken care of. So what's the plan?" I asked, business like, pulling up to the table.

Lying to my mom was much easier said than done, and on top of that, it just felt _wrong._ But I knew the significance of today and possible contact tonight, so I ignored the twisting feelings of guilt in my stomach and pushed it to the back of my mind.

"The plan?" He asked dubiously. "Oh, right." He shook his head as if to clear his mind. "The plan."

He took a deep breath. "I duno if you'll like this or not, but…My plan is to transfigure you, and send you in, while I stay here to keep up appearances."

"Hm." I said curtly. I didn't like the idea of 'transfiguration' at all. "You're right, I don't like it." I said bemused.

He sighed heavily, "I thought that would be the case."

"Is there a backup plan?" I asked.

"Well we could call it a night…" But my head was already shaking before he finished the sentence.

"Alright, then, what do you suggest?" He asked annoyed, folding his arms tightly.

I sat up slightly. "I suggest we go, without turning me into something...weird."

"If we go like that, we might as well marinate and season ourselves first. All the top predators come out at night. Ya know, Thanators, Viperwolves, jeez even the plants hunt at night." He said, leaning against the wall.

"Alright, alright. I get it." I threw my hands up in defeat. He had a good point. "Change me into something big and scary to keep our, erm," I cleared my throat. "little forest friends away. Ok, I can handle that. I just want to know _what_ your little book of ancient formula will turn me into, and if it's permanent."

He blanched. "Of course it's not permanent. Is that what your worried about?" He leaned his head back, offering a small laugh that caused a scowl to cross my lips.

Ahrim noticed quickly and sobered up. "No, it's not permanent, and the formula, well, it's a little complex. You see, you become whatever you want to be." He said matter-of-factly. "It's like a morph spell. You change for a day, change back, let the spell cool down, and repeat." He rapped his knuckle on the metal table beside him. "Just like clockwork, except, much more simple." He shrugged.

It didn't sound half bad now, although I still had a nagging feeling that it was some kind of evil witch voodoo, but just like the guilt, I shoveled it off. It was also a slightly attractive idea. Become something big and powerful, king of the forest, even if it's only for a day. I liked it, to my slight dismay. But I couldn't change that now. It was a good proposition, and non-permanent. I nodded. "Ok, I'll do it." And the finality of the statement hung in the air with the weight of the last few months of our work.

**Sometime, slightly after 6:00 PM Earth-time, Sunset on Pandora.**

Time was something that was very different on Pandora. What with the day and night cycles being the same yet so far from Earth, our four hour trek through the jungle had only taken an hour here. I had showered, and eaten, along with Ahrim, who was desperately grateful that the pizza man rushed our order to us as fast as he could. It was wonderful, the pizza, much better than the slop they serve at the school cafeteria. We stuffed ourselves, after all, we would need the energy. He told me the transformation would be painful, but he said it was superficial, all about the mind accepting a new body. I grimaced, but listened intently. "Remember, movement is your greatest ally, don't sacrifice it for natural defense and weaponry." He always stressed how movement and agility were prime in the environment of Pandora, and I couldn't help but agree with him.

The only problem? I had only one idea, two at the most, and neither of them were any good. Both slow and clumsy, but armed to the teeth, and heavily protected. Both were counted as parts of the US Army. Biological weapons were no longer bombs with poison or diseases, but genetically engineered animals, equipped with field combat gear. They were introduced in the late 2070's, back when the war on terrorism had turned into World War 3. Long war short, the breeds of animals released on the field were killers, bread to see, attack, kill, and devour. Countries surrendered, entire countries, because of the massive losses. The war that had raged for twenty years ended in the month that the new Bio-weapons were introduced.

This is long before I was born, of course. 2070, phew, near eighty years ago. My great grandfather documented the war, and after the war was over? The army put their new toys in cryo. Saving them for the next big world conflict.

But that was all in the past. Long gone, and now I was before the open portal. Ahrim holding tightly to his family staff. He had a few chalk pastes, which he used to cover my arms in strange markings. "When I utter the spell, dive though the portal and think 'this is what I want to be.' When the spell finds your thought, you will know." His hands shook nervously as I nodded.

He had never done anything like this before. No one in his family for the last eight generations had done something like this. Sweat beaded on his brow as he began the incantation. He took a breath, gritting his teeth, and said it. "Strenuus mutatio runes." (A/N: **Activate the transformation runes. Latin is a pain.)**

The world spun as the chalked marks on my arm glowed faintly. I was shoved roughly, and then I was falling…

The choice. I was still at a loss for what to decide. Both my options stood open, but I didn't accept them. Something was eating away at me from the inside, an answer that sat on the tip of my tongue. Perhaps a memory? Or an answer to a problem. I felt my breath catch, and my stomach lurch..

No… NO! Not this…thing. The beast that started it, and the same that ended it all. Dark lips pulled back over pearly white, dagger pointed teeth. Cold, reflective, green eyes regarded me with undisguised hostility. The product of my childhood nightmares, come back to haunt me. The first of the weapon race to begin a war…and end the war. The weapon that was discontinued for betraying its own country. The weapon that destroyed a school…that tore my left arm off.

The only weapon to achieve sentience, and escape from authorities. There was an uncomfortable pop in my head, and the mental image became complete. The black lips suddenly grew a silver muzzle, and a large black nose. The cold eyes spawned a silver coat, and two, large, A shaped ears filled out and became whole. Trickling of silver fur splashed down the black outline like a overturned bucket of silver paint. The massive forelegs gave birth to paws the size of a chair seat. The rippling wave of fur continued down the back, over the meticulously concealed muscular flaps that dotted the entire body, and ended in a fluffy tail. The silver spilled down more, revealing thickly muscled hind legs.

The entire form filled out, and solidified. The great wolf, the CSX DOG-OF-WAR, stood before me now, fifteen feet tall. It barred it's teeth at me, coupled with a deep rumbling growl. The muscular flaps over it's body opened, and pale columns of sharpened bone erupted from its form. My head spun, nausea pooling in the center of my stomach. It was _that_ day all over again.

The wolf tensed, and launched itself at me, brandishing it's fearsome weaponry.

My world went dark, just before a red hot flare of pain raced through my limbs. I couldn't scream, I couldn't even whimper at the cruel tugging and rapid growing of my body. I writhed, desperately trying to reject this change, but it was futile.

Seconds passed as hours. Minutes became days. Even when the pain vanished, I stayed still. Then there was a sudden discomfort coming from my side. I kept my eyes closed as I tried to stand on unstable legs. My hands felt weird, until I found that I had no thumbs. My eyes snapped open, along with my nose and ears.

Hundreds of scents assaulted me, while sounds became everything.

My head dipped down, looking at my hands. Giant splayed paws greeted my sight. I paced slightly, and the feeling wasn't bad… just unusual. The unfamiliar pull of tendons in my new muscles felt like cords that connecting my body together. I huffed, and it went though my nose, coming out as a snort. I had become my childhood menace, and I didn't care, It felt well, pretty good. The corded muscles of my new body coiled and relaxed, but a new problem was quickly becoming apparent. I was naked, or just close enough to naked to be in-decent. I paced nervously, until I felt something on my lower back move.

I had a tail. Oh dear Lord who art thou in heaven, I HAD A TAIL! These changes were becoming too much, there were just…too…many. I froze, the thick flaps of muscle on my back opening in sickening ways. But if that was sick, I had another thing coming. I couldn't see them, but I could feel them, and hear them. The thick columns of edged bone, pushing slowly out from my body. My stomach lurched at the feeling, and the thick slithering sound as the bone rubbed against muscle…

I vomited, causing the bone spires to lock in place, and my large silver maw to open and spew out a pitifully small ball of semi-digested pizza.

My head cleared instantly, like a quick snap. I grumbled internally, which came out as a series of odd sounding growls. I shook my head, and took a deep breath. Looking around, I realized something else. The portal had dumped me somewhere _close_ to the sigil. But not directly where it was placed, and for which I was grateful. If the children had gone back, the sudden appearance of a Attack Wolf would have had disastrous effects, especially if I fell on anyone.

The sky was darkening, a deep orange with Polyphemus dominating the night sky. I sniffed at the air. Earth, water, fruit, dung, and a heavy musky scent that I couldn't identify. But it was strong, so I followed it, chasing it, the unique smell. Running felt wonderful. I had been prepared for the rough impact of my normal stride, but I didn't find it. Instead, my fee…paws traced the earth gently, caressing it, digging my new claws in for more speed, smoothly. The forest whipped past in a blur, leaving me to dodge the obstacles, while still following the smell that was now crisscrossing the air in every direction. I surged through a last bit of brush to find…that there was no more forest. Just the massive root structure of a titanic tree. With a startled yelp, I desperately tried to redirect my momentum.

It partially worked, slowing me slightly, but I still ended up plowing, face first, into the tons of wood, bark, and tree-sap. The pain that lanced through my head was much less than I had thought would accompany such a brutal assault. I shook it off and raced back to the cover of the forest. "Damn." I growled out, then yelped again. _I could talk?_

Oh to hell and back. I'm a freaking, talking, dog! But I didn't have much time to dwell on that fact. No one was at the bottom of the tree, thank God, but if they weren't on ground level, did that mean…

I looked up, straight up. "That is one damn big tree." I muttered squinting up. Light was fading quickly.

I didn't like the sound of my voice, it was too deep, and seemed on the edge of a growl. There was a brush of feet against ground, and I instinctively crouched, hopefully out of sight of the approaching sound. It was joined by a second, both moving here and there, talking in a strange but beautiful language, one was male, and the other, female. The one with a feminine voice laughed, with a few remarks until they came to my personal crash site.

Both stopped at where my face and claws had gouged into the bark of the tree, and the male spoke in question. I peaked my muzzle though the leaves hoping to finally get a good look, but my shifting movements exposed me with a faint rustle of plant life. I froze, praying they would overlook the, noise, and if not, the silver-streaked snout, and shiny, wet, black nose.

My prayers were answered, as the two walked away, both laughing, and walking in pace. When their steps had faded, I felt a strange impulse to climb the tree, and adamantly ignored it. Instead, I poked my head through the brush, looking at the complex root structure. Sounds drifted down from above, probably where the entire group had gone. I took a slight jog around the tree, my paws beating the Pandorian soil at a regular pace, but still silent, should anyone become curious. It was big, well duh, but I mean it was really BIG. The trunk had to be at least…fifty yards wide. The calcium spires on my back had receded shortly after I had begun my small trip around, but other than that, nothing else had changed. The drums still beat from above, and small pieces of ash fluttered to the ground, dancing in the air. There were voices too, but there was too much wood for me to hear clearly, and even then, the language was a mystery. Even with basic knowledge of rudimentary words, the couple from earlier might as well have been speaking in pig-Latin. I sighed, expelling the air through my nose, and sat, next to one of the many massive root structures, careful not to use my tail as a seat.

It was peaceful, the drums, and sounds of dancing, and singing. Pandora decided to smile on me for tonight, and maybe if I was lucky, I could catch that glimpse that I had ached, worked, and dreamed of for the last year and a half. My ears flattened against my skull and a small tremor of excitement flooded down my spine. I leaned slightly against the tree, rolling my new shoulders.

_Something in the wind…_ My head snapped up, and froze. A tiny, blue girl was plummeting down quickly. The screams from above quickly following her decent.

They say when a dog sees a Frisbee, they have a instinctual desire to chase and bite. What they failed to explain was how powerful that desire was. I was already up, my claws digging into the bark of the massive _Kelutral, _and in the next moment I was climbing at a running pace. At first the screaming above was for the falling girl, but now it was two sided, with others exclaiming at the massive beast racing towards the falling child. My claws sank in rhythm, one-two, one-two, one-two. Half way up, I nearly passed her, disengaging from the tree, and for a split second, I thought I missed her, because of the darkness. My teeth, covered by what could be my lips, closed over something warm, and oddly shaped. "Got'cha." I said in relief, my jaws securing loosely around the child.

The reality of the situation was suddenly staring me down as my stomach flattened against my spine. This was going to hurt…

The dense air of Pandora became helpful, like a wind that was blowing up, but it wasn't enough. I splayed my limbs catching as much air as I could, but it wasn't near enough to slow me to a save landing velocity. The impact was earth shattering, either that or my ribs had given way. The child in my maw pressed against my lower lips at impact, driving the soft pink and black flesh onto my dagger-pointed teeth. Pain was everywhere, but the shock was quickly wearing off. I could taste blood, _my blood._

Me and my damn instincts. When did I get the thought of jumping of a tree like that? This body kept surprising me though, seemingly much more durable, it had been developed for military use, but from a fall like that, something was bound to go wrong. My legs were wobbly as I stood, shaking tremendously. I gently loosed my covered teeth from the girl, setting her on the ground as gently as I could. The girl had fared considerably better, he face a very light shade of sky-blue. Most likely pale by Na'vi standards. She was trembling slightly, a choked, terrified, whimper, that was my fault. Alien military wolves had a tenancy to 'Strike fear in the hearts of man' but to a child like her, I might as well have crawled out of her deepest, darkest nightmares. Although, with all things considered, she was alive, and un-injured, and I could live with that.

Minutes later, the clan poured out of the tree, some descending on strange flying animals that didn't seem to like me much, and protested in a screeching and cawing that made my ears twitch. That didn't matter though. Everything I had come here for was suddenly pouring out of the tree. Feline like in body shape, and stature, my expectations were met and exceeded on all counts. The large eyes, flattened noses, and pointed ears varied from one person to the next. All were slightly, beautifully illuminated by the forest and the bioluminescent spots that dotted their bodies. Many had bows drawn and arrows notched, looking anxiously at the girl at my feet. Without hesitation, I nudged her with my nose towards her kin, and sat, waiting for their reaction. A woman bolted from the group to the girl, scooped her up and ran back.

I took a deep breath and let it go. _Nice going superman...er dog, you saved the day._

A second pair, walked forward, cautiously, hand in hand. Male and female, I had almost no doubt that they were the leaders, even though they looked no different than everyone else. Something struck me about the male. He was different, slightly, but still perceptively. My eyes glanced to his hand and I drew a surprised breath. He had five fingers…and eyebrows. They paused in their advance, hearing my breath. The area was eerily quiet. I stood, and walked to them both, giving them a once over with my nose.

The female had the same scent as everyone else, but the male, he was a piece of work. He smelled completely different, an oddity. While sniffing him, his hand came up, scratching my snout like I was a dog. Oh well, oddity or not, he was nice. My tail swished from side to side, and he laughed. "Damn, your big. So boy, just where did you come from?"

I sneezed. All over him. He fell backwards, and the female tried desperately to stifle her laughter, as she helped him up. After a moment, the clan broke out in laughter too. My vocal ventricles opened and I joined in the boisterous laughter. A slight pain issued from my left flank, not serious, but still annoying. My ears caught a rhythmic thrumming in the air, like the hoof beats of a horse. Heads turned, the laughter cutting off

A warrior party rode in from across the tree and made their way around quickly. My paws splayed, and my ears laid back. My ventricles opened and a grievous, rumbling growl tore through the air, because they were holding someone captive.

My best friend, and head warlock and mage of his family, Ahrim Levat Raziel, was knocked out cold, and was being dragged behind the leader and his mount.

* * *

**Well crap, Ahrim has been taken prisoner by the Omaticaya, and Jarred has become the Rogue Wolf that attacked him in elementry school. Kind of harsh, right? What will Jarred do now that he is reveared as a savior by Mo'at and the rest of the clan? Ahrim will really need to bust out some major spell-casting to get out of this sticky situation, and what of the Venture Star that has nearly arrived, filled with RDA personell, and Avatar drivers? Jakesully and Neyteri will need some serious reinforcements for this battle, or perhaps a giant wolf, and the great however many greats grandson of Merlin Ambrosius, or Merlin, King Arthur's mage and spellcaster, will be enough.**

**Oh, and be sure to review. As always, suggestions are welcome, although I would rather you PM me instead of leaving it in the reviews.**

**I bid you all farewell till my next installment.**

**Till then,**

**Sir Nickolas III**


	4. Almighty wolf say wha?

_**My best friend, and head warlock and mage of his family, Ahrim Levat Raziel, was knocked out cold, and was being dragged behind the leader and his mount.**_

***

My body took an instinctive step forward, and suddenly every bow was trained on me again. A fierce snarl rippled though my teeth. Move and become a pin cushion or don't move and let them play drag my friend around the tree. Decisions, decisions. I tensed and rolled forward, stretching my hind legs, trying to relax, as the mysterious, English speaking pair made their way over to Ahrim. More hunters came in but I could see that Ahrim wasn't the only one playing in dreamland.

Five or six Na'vi rode in, two to a horse, and it was immediately prevalent why. The first ones on the horse were paralyzed, like statues made of blue marble. The growling echo cut off, and I took a second step forward, eliciting several growls of disapproval from the mass. Time to see why this body earned the nick-name Hellhound.

Of course I wouldn't hurt any of them. But a good dose of fear always served to make people humble. I could only imagine what they were seeing. A great wolf standing on it's hind legs, sprouting spikes, and letting off a roar that would send the Devil himself scurrying for cover.

The effect was more than desirable as my forelegs came down with a mighty WHOMP against the ground. My jagged bone quills vibrated with the force of impact, the rippling wave of blue bodies parting like the Red Sea...or the heh, Blue sea, allowing me to reach Ahrim without any instance or unpleasant actions. The couple didn't turn. Either they ignored my vocal tumult, or they didn't want to risk me charging at them. I wanted to snort, but kept it in. Instead, I walked over to Ahrim. He smelled fine, from a distance at least. Slightly sweaty, but that was understandable in this heat and humidity. Thankfully the collar around his neck was still fastened tight, so he could breathe. Much to my surprise, the couple completely ignored him, and me, though they both kept tossing anxious expressions his way, and for the life of me, I couldn't imagine why.

There was a nasty bruise on his forehead, probably smacked with one of those scary looking bows. I saw no gun, just the waxy aged staff he used to freeze me, which is probably what he did to the other six. So he came without a gun. God, he was lucky. He might have gotten something a little more worse if he had been pumping off rounds. But he took his staff instead. Harmless…hopefully. But as long as he didn't receive a concussion from the blow, he should be able to reverse the paralysis and I would be able to have a lecture about his magic, and where it came from.

A tired sigh escaped though my nose. There was no way I could help him wake up when I stood nearly three times higher than him. Well, maybe I could nudge him around with my nose, but I doubt that would do any good. He said I would be able to change into anything, right? But did he mean one thing exclusively, or maybe…just maybe, I found a stroke of luck in the technical details of the formula.

My massive head turned to look at the churning mass. Blue skin, tails, pointy ears… the answer struck me like the ringing of the ancient cathedral, Notre Dam's, bells. I felt like and idiot. A really, really big idiot.

"The animal is very protective." My head snapped up and caught the woman's large yellow eyes for a moment before she turned her back to me. Her back was tense, though, so I knew that she knew that I wasn't just another dumb animal. "It is smart."

"Yeah." The man muttered, throwing an odd glance back at me. "And weirdest of all is that it looks like... nah, never mind. It's been too long."

"Do you think…" The woman said hushed, but still loud in my ears, "That the skypeople have come back?"

He paused for a moment. "I don't know what to think." He said tiredly. "Even the RDA wouldn't be sending kids out into the forest, and the boy doesn't have tags either."

Sky people? What did that…oh. The shuttles went out of orbit to get people off the venture star, and came back. People of the sky. But why would they come back? It's not like they left…right? Maybe my chat with Ahrim could wait, besides, it wasn't like he would be waking up anytime soon. I felt a bubble of air come up and out like a bark...only it was a word. "Hey!" Lord, it sounded like a bark with letters.

The entire clearing went quiet, like earily quiet, and heads turned. No let me re-phrase that. _All_ the heads turned, pointy ears and all. Either they had never heard a dog bark before. (Which was quite a possibility) Or they knew basic English. I had their undivided attention. Hopefully, they wouldn't just decide to pin-cushion me on the spot. More bubbles of air came up my throat, leaving my muzzle hard and seperate, thrown like knives. "My friend needs help."

I drew myself up to my full intimidating hight, staring down my nose at the couple that had turned, with wide eyes and fluttering heart beats. Their eyes blazed brightly, like topaz, with fear. If I was going to play this part, I might as well do it fully. Neither of them had moved, not an inch. My eyes narrowed, and I sauntered foreward. "Did you not hear me?" I growled out, literally. "I said, My friend needs help." The words were now more like barks, echoing off the massive trunk of the tree.

An odd sounding twang, and the whistile of somthing through the air. A sudden pain in my lower back. My head threw back, and a tumulative howl blasted from my elongated mouth. A thick wooden shaft was imbedded in my side. Without thinking, my thick teeth bit into the shaft and tore it out. "No! Stop! Don't shoot!" The Na'vi man shouted, running quickly to where I stood cautiously licking my blodded side. The thick iron taste was horrible, though, I could already feel the flesh of my side knitting back together. Damn, that hurt...and a weird numbing sensation spread in my side. He kept his back to me, and spoke in that odd language but this time, I could hear the words. "Mawey, Na'vi. Poan tsmukan." The bows lowered. Hey, just because I knew what he was saying didn't mean I understood it.

"Brother." My ears twitched forward. I looked to him in question, then around...but I didn't see anyone who bore his resembalances. "Forgive me, and my people."

He was calling me...brother? My hackles went up. He was asking me for...to forgive him? You know when you first meet a guy, and you can tell several things about him by how he acts and stuff, like a first impression? He just presented me with a very good first impression. A good strong leader. Soft in the head, but strong in the heart. My head lowered, and I sniffed him over. I can't really explain why though. It was a compulsive action. After giving him a quick nosy once over, I rolled back, stretching my forelegs. Ok, time to impress with my 'almighty dog' lingo. My side still felt really weird, but it stopped spreading, thankfully. So, standing tall and magestic, or as best I could I spoke. "Your willingness to accept fault impresses me." My tone was low, rumbling. "You have gained my favor. I forgive you... brother. And your people." Wow. I duno how 'brother' ended up in there, but it just sounded so...aproppriate.

The man beamed at me, before gesturing for his...uh, dang it. I can't remember the term for it. Well, anyway, he gestured for his 'wife' to see me. She approached cautiously, and tried very hard not to show her slight unease. Her personality seemed delicate...but her body spoke otherwise. She was roubust, and lithely built. Speed and grace. She made a small gesture from her forhead, keeping her eyes focused on me, and said somthing quietly in her language. I didn't catch what she said, so I assumed it was a greeting. She shuffled uncomfortably. I wanted to smile...but that probably wouldn't have gone down well. Instead, I bowed my head lower than her own. "Pleased to meet you." The words came out sounding naturally harsh, and rough, but the sincerety rang powerfully in every word.

She watched me, still cautiously as my head rose back, but she wasn't as tense as before. I looked to Ahrim, unconcious on the thick fauna. "Please, my friend needs somwhere to rest."

A thick air of unease settled around the gathering. Somone was making their way through the crowd, but that wasn't all. Somthing small and white was drifting from the sky, coming in twos and threes. One of them drifted onto my muzzle, right on my nose. my head kicked up in a massive sneeze, but the small feather weight of the glowing tendrils only drifted closer to my head. I ignored them. "Is there a place you can put him?" I asked.

The didn't respond, but were still looking at me. No, not me, but the little floating bundles of filimants and light. I crossed my eyes to get a better look at the one resting on my snout. It glowed soft white, with long feathery tendrils that pulsed with light. I wish I had my camera. But the people, they stood in awe. Then whoever had been crossing through the crowd reached us. An older woman, wearing a woven poncho-like top. Her face was incredibly intense, and the lines of age on her face only served to intensify peircing eyes. Though, a second feature shone brightly. Her phosphorescant dots were, for lack of a better term, intricate, almost as if they had been placed in a way that gave the impression that she was wearing a faceplate of stars.

The air around her demanded respect, and even though with my head held high I was nearly twice as tall as she, I wanted to shrink away from her. My tail drooped and I bowed again, struggling not to back away, and the little white floating thing danced off into the crisp night air. 'Please be nice, please be nice, please be nice...' I chanted in my thoughts over and over again. "You saved this child?" A small girl peaked out from the crowd before dashing to hide behind the woman peaking at me around her legs. The woman eyed me with a grim, severe face.

The question was so basic that I was at a loss for words. She asked again more forcefully. "You did save this child?" I flinched, a peircing whine emitting from my nose.

What was wrong with me? Twice as tall, twice as strong, I had no reason to be afraid...but I was. "Yes." I said in my odd vibrating voice.

My rib twinged in pain as my head rose and I winced. Looks like it might be broken after all. Ahrim groaned behind me. The Dragon Lady turned back to the mass, and spoke. Instant silence. The small girl peaked out again and I snorted on her. She laughed. A sound like a little tinkling bell. The entire congregation spoke together, making a small gesture from their forheads, and the lady turned back to me. Speaking in solemn tones, she addressed me. "Eywa sent Jhake to drive away the sky-people," She looked up, her eyes burning with conviction. "She has sent you to assure such bloodshed will never See us again. You, and your friend, we must know what to call you."

I stood in stunned silence. I was...some kind of...protector, and who the frick is Eywa!? Before I knew what I was doing, I was talking. "I am Jarred. He is Ahrim." I looked back. The woman saw my glance and spoke sharply in her tongue. A young woman appeared, flitting behind me, scooping Ahrim up and dashing back into the safe haven of the massive tree.

"I am Mo'at." She said, placing a hand on my foreleg. "Jharred, you and your friend Airhim are now Omaticaya. May Eywa smile upon you." She gestured with her hand and forhead, and I bowed, contemplating how deep I have already dug my grave.

* * *

**A/N: Jarred and Ahrim are Omaticaya! (partially) Poor Ahrim. He has no idea how deep this rabbit hole is and he's already falling into it. Stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	5. The Awesome Giant Wolf Dude

Ok. Let's recap. Ahrim is KO'd. Oh, and uh… Ahrim is the guy who got us here in the first place. You see, his great, great, really great grandfather was Merlin. Like _the_ Merlin, the great magician of King Arthur. So anyway, he's out cold, and as for me?

I'm stuck in the body of a giant dog that can turn into a bone porcupine. Oh, yeah. And the body I'm stuck in is a copy of an attack wolf that bit my right arm off six years ago, and I can talk. (By the way, my arm was surgically grafted back on, and feels fine.) And to top it all off, I saved a falling Na'vi child (probably earning myself a broken rib in the process) and this whacko dragon lady comes up and says that now Ahrim and _me_, AKA giant wolf dude are now part the Oh-mah-ti-kaya _and_ that I'm invited to dinner.  
OH! Score ONE for the awesome giant wolf dude! My first day here and I'm already part of the family…well, sort of. I hope Ahrim wakes up soon though, because I don't like the dirty looks that a small group of women are giving me, and I know that it's because Ahrim pulled a medusa on six Na'vi hunters kinda freezing them in place. They're still alive an well, though. Only frozen. Wait…if Ahrim is here, wha…then who's keeping up appearances? Oh holy...frick, this is…oh dear Lord have mercy on my mothers soul…she'd have a heart attack if she found that I was missing…


	6. That's Not My Mom

Ahrim you Goddamn idiot. He was out of it. Floating along in La-La land. Meanwhile, I was padding along in the helix core of the tree, carrying three Na'vi children on my back who clamored and squealed with delight. Honestly, it felt really weird. Though the children understood and spoke a little English it was hard to understand them. The only thing I can compare it to is the kid Pedro at school. He speaks English fairly well, but his accent is so thick that it's hard to understand him if he talks fast. Though they knew only a little English, they still knew enough to tell me where...and how to walk. Though, they only started giving me directions _after_ they tried sticking their braid thing in my ear. Ugh.

I even walked up the spiral core thingy backwards, and, being so proud of myself, gave a howl of triumph, to which the children mimicked, howling with their ears laid back.

They ran me right into the ground. Literally. My muscled aching with exhaustion, I made my way over to Ahrim's...cot-thingy. I felt old, like, really stiff when I curled up and slumped to the ground. After a few quiet moments I drifted off, wondering how to explain all this to my mom, and how to prevent her sure panic when she realized the danger involved.

I awoke to the sound of screaming, and groaned. "Come on mom. It's Saturday. Have a nervous breakdown tomorrow."

I hadn't slept right and I had the most _awesome_ dream. You know, on Pandora and stuff. I must have moved as I slept, because my bed was uncomfortably hard, like the tile floor of the kitchen.

My mom screamed again, in terror. I bolted straight up. My mom did _not_ scream like that. Not unless something was very wrong. "Mom?" I asked, furiously rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

When I saw who it was, backed against the wall, my heart skipped a beat. My mom did _not_ have blue skin, or yellow eyes. I lurched backwards, and I noticed that my legs were horribly mangled, but also that they worked flawlessly. "Who?" My chest heaved as my back met a solid wall. It wasn't only that the woman had blue skin, but she was an absolute tower. Easily two feet taller than me.

I looked around, in slight panic. Ahrim's here, I noted. We… came here?

Pandora.

My muscles twitched violently and finally I remembered. _Pandora_. It wasn't a dream. We really did come here. And… we were…part of something… argh. Intense throbbing pain betwixt my ears. My hands grasped my head on my own accord. The woman's high pitched keening didn't help the pain either.

Then I noticed that my hands weren't hands. Furry half mutated limbs. I was a cross between a dog and a human. My clothes were back covering the rest of my crossbreed body. My slightly curled, furry fingers each also, bore a singular claw that extended an inch past the finger tip. Hmm, maybe a little cat thrown in there too.

The entire little episode had taken all of ten seconds, before she was inching for the entrance.

Ahrim grumbled unhappily at the sound of the female's fear, but didn't awake.

"Please." I said calmly, holding my hands out in an un-threatening way. "Don't be afraid."

My voice sounded like some kind of demonic double pitch.

She obviously didn't understand my words, and my voice… well…uh, she dashed out the entry way. So, obviously it wasn't charming. Damn it. "Ahrim!" I roared turning to him, and roughly shaking him. "Wakey, wakey!" He muttered something else. But he was still very much in La-La land.

Not for long. "Damn it, Ahrim. WAKE UP!" I backpawed him across the face.

He leapt up so fast that he did a complete front flip off of his hammock-slash-bed thing, and toppled to the floor in a mass of small limbs. "WHAT THE HELL!" He cried.

They were coming. I could hear their feet slapping against the live wood of the tree, and if they found me like this, it wouldn't be good. I grabbed his wrist without pausing to let him stand up and dragged him out of the room at a running pace. "No time to explain." I said calmly. "But it's time to go."

"Jarred?" He asked, his voice undulating with the uneven floor. "What happened to you?"

"Your formula." I growled. I still dwarfed him by a good foot as I tugged my arm and lurched him along to the helix core. I wasn't aiming for that though. Just past it on the opposite wall, there was a pushed out knot of wood about the size of a door, and through the giant hole in the wall was a climbing vine. Something I only noticed out of the corner of my eye yesterday, that was now saving my life today. "Up we go." I grunted hoisting his dead weight from the floor and clasping his arms around my neck in mid-sprint. "Surely, your aren't thinking…" He protested.

"It's a safe way down." I argued. 'Hopefully.' I tacked on as an afterthought. The only down side of my plan was running through a crowd of mostly awake Na'vi. And as much as I'd like to sit a gawk at their beauty, grace, and intelligence, being chased like this only inspired one reaction. Flight. I wanted out.

Looks like I was still part dog, because my flight or fight response had never before been so acute. I made a mad dash through them, making it to the hole in record time, ignoring the startled cries and hisses as I broke through the crowd, and jumped.

Something behind reached out and snatched me by the scruff of the neck. I seized up immediately. No control. None at all. It felt like the most undignifying thing that had happened to me in my entire life. Only a singular startled yelp of surprise made it's way out of my mouth, as I was lifted back up, Ahrim and all, to face the multitude. When I was brought around to see who caught me, I thought it would be one of the buff hunter guys that had shown up last night.

I was wrong, and my opinions of elderly women were altered forever. Mo'at gazed at me evenly as I hung from her iron grasp. The tides were definitely different this time. This time around, she was much taller than I, and most likely stronger too. Yesterday, they feared me and were subject to my (limited) power. Today I was more or less, subject to the same power. My hair rose, turning me into a puffball. What if they were like the ancient people from the United British Federation who had no qualms when burning witches and 'wolf men'?

A ragged whine came out my nose, and my stomach churned with anxiety. The entire room had gone quiet. Not one soul made a sound, save for Ahrim who grunted as he reaffirmed his hold around my neck. Mo'at glanced at Ahrim for a moment, before looking back to me. "Jarrat?

My name was spoken in question, like she recognized me. I dipped my head in confirmation, praying to whichever deity that ruled this world that Mo'at would set me down and not order the clan to kill me. I had no doubt that they would obey her order in a heartbeat. I really didn't want to become a pincushion, or a fur rug. I could feel the changes reversing too. My bones subtly shortening and softening, like one of those hypo-processed chocolate bars that got left in the sun.

Then Mo'at pulled something I never would have expected.

Cliffhanger, and my first one ever! Though, I wonder... what would Mo'at do that's so surprising?Review please :)


	7. I'm going bald

Alright! Finally, after being tossed and turned for these few months, I have returned to this awesome story. My only other story had a plot holier than swis chese, so I'm back on this one.

Thanyou for all your reviews. and without further delay, I present to you... your dinner, uh...chapter. heh.

_Then Mo'at pulled something I never would have expected._

She set me down. _She actually set me down_, Ahrim and all, releasing her iron grip on the flesh and fur of the back of my neck, and spoke sharply to the crowd. The small gathering dissipated soon after.

Ahrim slid off my shoulders and hit the wooden floor with a muted thud. Mo'at's face broke into a kind smile, instead of the reprimanding gaze I had expected. My nerves were still on end though. I was jittery. Like if anyone made a loud noise I'd bolt out through the hole in the wall and into the encroaching forest.

She placed a comforting hand on my head. "Mawey, ma Jarrat. Mawey."

The sense of panic I had before simply evaporated, leaving my legs and body feeling hollow. My legs gave way under my weight, and I slumped to my thinner canine knees, now only slightly shorter than Ahrim's tall frame.

I was at a loss for words. Even as my hair began to recede slightly and my bones continued their popping and snapping, I couldn't think of anything that could adequately convey my thanks. Luckily, Ahrim picked up from where I left off.

"What is your name?" He asked lightly, cautiously.

Mo'at cocked her head, looking down at him. Her eye's glinted with something… a memory, or perhaps a kind of weariness. Her gaze was less trustful resting on Ahrim than I. "I am called Mo'at." She stated without inflection. "You are one who made our hunters into stone, yes?"

Ahrim bore a confused expression, but remembered before I or she could jog his memory. "Ye…yeah." He wrung his hands, his expression shameful. "I can reverse the formula now if you want."

"For-ay-mu-la?" She asked.

"Yeah, I…if you could take me to them, I'll explain on the way." Ahrim offered, his thin fingers moving nervously against each other.

"Jarrat?" Mo'at asked.

"I'll be fine." I said rising from the floor, and shaking on my unstable legs like a leaf in the breeze. "He really should tend to your hunters." I moved to the wall for a little support, as my body shifted internally once more in a sickening way. "Just make sure they give him a chance to explain before they whack him with a bow again."

She cast me a slightly concerned glance, before deciding to lead Ahrim to her petrified hunting party.

"I have to say, It looks like you and Mo'at get along pretty well."

My legs snapped and groaned in complaint when I whirled around to face a towering Na'vi.

It was the guy from last night. The one who saw the ugly imprint of my furry face in the bark of his and the woman's home. He was relaxed, leisurely even. Jhake, right? My memory was failing me at the moment, probably because of some deep neurological brain chemistry voodoo. I didn't like it.

"You're the guy…" I said, failing to elaborate any further.

He laughed. "Yeah, I guess you could call me 'the guy'. I'm Jake." Ah ha! So I wasn't too far off. "Yeah, Neytiri wanted to thank you personally, but she was already to set out for a morning hunt last night."

I nodded mutely, not entirely decided on what to say. He, thankfully, filled in that blank. "So, you're a shape shifter, or something?", his question was earnest.

"I-uh, yeah…kind-of…I guess. My friend can explain it better than I can…" I replied, leaning on the supporting wall of tree bark.

"Your friend?" He asked. "Oh! Right, the kid…sorry about his head."

I shrugged. "It's ice. His skull is thicker than a rock." I gnawed at the inside of my muzzle as it shrunk little by little, for a moment before a question burst from my lips. "How did you get here?"

He looked at me in surprise for a moment. "By the ISV." He answered nonchalantly, though not really the answer I was looking for. "How'd you get here?"

Not a good subject, but lying at this point would be moot. "My friend and I opened a gate way from Earth and kind of…just walked onto Pandora."

His jaw hung open for a moment. Wait for it. Wait for it… He burst into laughter. I knew he would.

Just like the many scientists and scholars that Ahrim and I had consulted, it was just as absurd to this man as it had been for them. _Anything is possible._

I scowled. I had been unable to present the professors with any tangible evidence, but I could do it now. My fingers, which had grown fractionally longer lashed at the air directly in front of me. There was a pop, like static electricity, my skin went all tingly, and the smell of burning fur engulfed the much taller Na'vi and I. Well, so much for my proof. My proof had gone 'poof', or 'pop' is more like it.

My hopes that we were close enough to be able to evoke the sigil's pseudo-aura were shattered like sugar glass. Maybe lying wouldn't have been such a bad idea after all. As for the pop? Well, static tends to gather in furry organisms, me included. (For now at least.)

"Well…that was interesting." Jake said.

I frowned, or as best I could with my silver streaked muzzle, and poked him with my charged fingers. The effect was exactly as desired. A static bolt the size of a pencil leaped off my finger and arced into his leg with another crackle of energy.

There was a single moment when all his muscles tensed, and then expounded in a great leap up, followed by a hoot of pain.

I stalked off in slight anger and mirth, trying not to wince or smile as the ligaments in my body groaned and cracked in protest to my movement.

Heck, maybe it wasn't the best time to be revealing the modern magic anyway. They could always blame the uh, 'man into living stone', thing Ahrim did to the hunters on some kind of stun compound. But me? Hah, I'd have some big explaining to do once I started shedding fur and growing skin.

I bet Ahrim would have a solution, and I had no doubt that he was as keen on keeping the magic a secret until we absolutely needed it… at least if he hasn't started showing off yet…


End file.
